Organic-containing particulates are known in the art. For example, wax treated particulated silica anti-block agents are widely used in plastic films to reduce or remove blocking tendencies between two surfaces of film. The wax imparts certain properties to the anti-block so that the silica anti-block is more compatible with the organic film in which it is included.
Wax coated particulated matting agents have also been used in architectural coatings, e.g., decorative paint. Such agents typically comprise inorganic oxide particulate. The matting agent imparts surface deformations to the dried coating thereby reducing the gloss in, and imparting a matte finish to, the coating after it dries. Certain inorganic particulates settle out of the coating when stored and are difficult to redisperse. When these matting agents are treated, however, the matting agent can at least be more easily dispersed when remixed.
More recently, it has been discovered that relatively high wax content matting agents work particularly well in matting ultraviolet curable coatings. These matting agents contain wax in amounts which are higher than that typically used for conventional matting agents. See WO01/04217. It has been discovered that when these high organic content treated particulates are stored in large enough volumes for certain periods of time, the temperatures of the material can occasionally reach levels at which auto-ignition begins. In general, as the volume of these high organic content particulates increases, the lower the temperature at which the particulate auto- or self-ignites after a given period of time. This had not been previously seen with the same volume of particulate containing smaller amounts of organic material.